Authorities in Pakistan have arrested three Germans for suspected links to Islamist extremist groups, police in Germany said Friday. Two of the Germans were converts to Islam, the head of the federal police Joerg Ziercke, told reporters in the southwestern city of Wiesbaden, adding that the suspects were being held in Pakistan. The third man, already considered by the German authorities to be a dangerous individual with links to Islamist extremists, was of foreign origin and had been living in the Wiesbaden region, officials said.They would not immediately say when the Germans were arrested, but the German newspaper Die Welt reported in its Saturday edition that the arrests were made “several days ago”.
One suspect was arrested trying to cross illegally from Pakistan to Iran, the second was apprehended in Karachi, while the third was trying to return to Germany, Die Welt reported, quoting government sources. News of the arrests followed an announcement by the German authorities that they had stepped up security in response to a greater threat of attacks at home and abroad due to the countryÂ’s military involvement in Afghanistan.
The European Union’s Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini on a trip to Rome Friday, echoed German concerns about the threat of attacks. “We have registered an increase in the movement of people ready for terrorist attacks who are trained in hard-to-reach areas like Afghanistan and Pakistan,” the commissioner said.